1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications and, more particularly, to the management of connections between a packet-switched network and a circuit-switched network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increasingly, telecommunications traffic, including voice calls, is being routed over packet-switched networks such as an Internet Protocol (IP) networks, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) based networks, or Frame Relay network to reduce transmission costs. This form of telecommunications service is known as packet telephony. Packet telephony uses the more efficient packet-switching technology instead of circuit-switching technology to support calls, especially long-distance calls, to achieve cost savings.
To route calls between a circuit-switched network and a packet-switched network, a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service provider needs to enter into separate bilateral agreements with various Public Switched Telecommunications Network (PSTN) carriers. Separate gateways and dedicated ports at a network switch of a PSTN carrier are required to terminate the telecommunications traffic from the VOIP service provider.
Accordingly, a VOIP service provider must negotiate a great number of these bilateral agreements to terminate traffic worldwide. Such bilateral arrangements are time-consuming and inefficient as these transaction costs reduce the profit margins of the VOIP service providers.
To increase transaction efficiency, VOIP service providers have begun to make use of a central hub for routing calls to and from one or more circuit-switched networks. However, since the packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks use different protocols, it is difficult if not impossible to provide detailed call records for accounting and routing purposes.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of managing connections between packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks.
According to one aspect of the invention, calls from one customer are routed to a predesignated network of another customer according to a routing table.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the customer is identified for purposes such as billing.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for transmitting telecommunications traffic between packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks. The system generates a routing table for routing telecommunications traffic for one or more customers. The routing table includes one or more routes specified for each customer, each of the routes being associated with a customer identifier. The system associates identifying information of each packet-switched network with a customer identifier and receives from a packet-switched network telecommunications traffic including information identifying the packet-switched network. The system also identifies the customer identifier associated with the packet-switched network identifying information and selects by the network switch one of the plurality of circuit-switched networks for receiving the telecommunications traffic based on the routing table and the identified customer identifier.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method of transmitting telecommunications traffic between packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks. The method comprises the steps of generating a routing table for routing telecommunications traffic for one or more customers. The routing table includes one or more routes specified for each customer, each of the routes being associated with a customer identifier. The method also includes the steps of associating each packet-switched network with a customer identifier and receiving by a network switch from a circuit-switched network telecommunications traffic including a customer identifier. The method then identifies the packet-switched network associated with the customer identifier included in the telecommunications traffic from the network switch. The telecommunications traffic is converted into a format compatible with the selected packet-switched network prior to its transmission through the network.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages, and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the drawing and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.